Company applies to put Jubilee House on solar

A solar power company, Yingli Namene West Africa Limited, has lauded the government's plan to put the Jubilee House on solar power and offered its expertise to help make the plan a reality.

The company, which has built a number of solar plants for private companies in the country, said it had already submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to the government, with the hope that it would be chosen to construct a solar plant to power the entire Jubilee House.

“This should help enhance the use of renewable energy in Ghana’s power generation mix,” the Managing Director of Yingli Namene, Mr Firmin Nkamleu Ngassam, said in Accra last Monday.

In an interview at the fifth Ghana Renewable Energy Fair and National Energy Symposium in Accra last Monday, Mr Ngassam said a positive feedback would send the right signal to drive the inclusion of solar in power generation.

New project

The company is also set to inaugurate a 401-kilowatt (KW) solar project for the Central University College (CUC) on October 15.

The plant was designed and built by Yingli Namene and enabled by Ecoligo, whose solar-as-a-service solution removes barriers for businesses such as the university to get powered by solar.

Mr Ngassam described the latest project as a laudable one, explaining that it was its first in an educational institution since it began operations in the country.

He said although the entire CUC was not off-grid, it was prioritising solar energy and that project would also help generate some savings for the university.

He said the CUC project was funded by Ecoligo, a partner of Yingli Namene West Africa.

Other projects

Mr Ngassam said the company had installed a couple of solar projects in Ghana for companies such as Kasapreko Company Limited, Stanbic Bank Ghana and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the country.

“We did installations at three branches of Stanbic Bank Ghana as pilot projects and we are looking at how to extend it to other branches as well,” he said.

He said the company provided the facility and clients paid in instalments over time.

“Clients do not have to pay anything upfront, so they just pay as they go. We organise everything with upfront financing and clients just pay monthly fees, which gives them some savings,” he said.

Policies

Touching on some policy interventions, he said the net metering policy which allowed renewable energy generation facility owners to be credited for electricity supplied to the grid should be reintroduced.

“We really expect the net metering to be brought back. This law was a very good one. Many businesses do not operate on Saturdays and Sundays and that is some 30 per cent loss on investments, but if you have the net metering policy, you can push the unused energy back unto the grid and support the savings concept,” he said.